It has been about three days since the grand opening of the store, and Randy was getting frustrated, wondering how long it would take Dale to notice his trap. Things were going smoother than expected in the shop, maybe that’s why. Dale was doing a masterful job at staying out of his own way, handling much of the managerial tasks, restocking items, and overall keeping the place looking professional as everyone else did their best. Slowly, his attention was being taken away from his own work and he began to notice Randy’s trap. Kyle grabbed Dale’s attention, and hopefully, Randy thought, this would be the right spark that would set things off…

“Uhh, Dale? I think you’re needed again.” Dale’s brow furrowed as he sighed.

“Who is it this time…?”

“Pick where you want to start.” Dale swung his head around and looked at Allie over at the products, helping a customer pick out a tea. The customer was fancying her, but was nonetheless unhappy, and Allie was confused as to why.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand.”

“But you work at a tea store, how do you not know what a Darjeeling is?”

“Uhm…this one smells fruity!” Allie reached over and grabbed a tea. “Do you want that one instead?” Before Dale could react, a customer spitting out his tea was heard from the tea bar. Dale whipped around, eyes bulging out of his head now, as Serenity had her arms crossed in front of her, eyeing down the customer.

“What, you don’t like how I made it?!”

“Of course not,” the customer said through his scrunched up face, “How do you even GET a tea to be this bitter?!”

“It’s no bitter than the coffee I make at home!” Dale’s rage had him momentarily paralyzed. This was just long enough for him to overhear a third customer, clearly unhappy, at the cash register.

“How much longer is this going to take?!” She screeched.

“I’m sorry!” Opal replied, looking mighty frantic as she pounded away at the keyboard. “It just kind of froze on me!” Dale wondered if it might have been a legitimate problem, until Kyle walked over to help.

“It wasn’t frozen, you just forgot to use the mouse. That’ll be $20.77 please.” As the customer left and Opal began to thank him, she and Kyle stopped dead in their tracks as a looming shadow hung over them. They looked up to see a very unhappy Dale. Randy smiled as he made his way on over.

“Oh, was there a problem?” Feigning a confused face, Dale now turned towards him.

“Why is Opal at the cash register?! She can’t handle technology or do math to save her life!” Dale grabbed her by the hand and began to hurriedly walk over to the products section.

“I’m pretty sure he can’t grab people like that,” Kyle said to Randy as they both followed, “there’s laws and whatnot.”

“Don’t worry Kyle, this is pretty mild for him.” Dale stopped in front of Allie and the customer, who looked up, saw Dale’s imposing figure, and let out a tiny yelp, half expecting to be murdered with an axe based on Dale’s facial expression. Dale brought Opal forward in front of the customer. He then turned towards Randy. “Opal’s knowledge of tea is second to none! You should know that! She should be helping customers!” He turned towards the still frightened customer. “She’ll help you! When it comes to tea, you will find no one more knowledgeable! Don’t’ waste this blessing of a human tea encyclopedia, and find every tea that you’ll like!”

“Ok…!” he whimpered. With that, Dale let go of a flustered Opal and grabbed hold of Allie, now dragging her to the tea bar. Allie looked like a kid being dragged around by a parent. At the bar, Dale grabbed the cup that was in front of the complaining customer and tossed it into the sink. The customer was a bit taken aback.

“Hey!”

“Quiet!” Dale bellowed, “You don’t have to pay! This girl will fix you up a nice cup of tea! Randy!” Dale’s neck snapped so fast around to glare at Randy it almost left an afterimage, “You know Allie can make some great tea! What’s more, she’s painfully adorable! Place her here, and she will be able to keep all the customers entertained and happy!” Dale turned back to the customer. “There’s no one who will do a better job listening to your problems. You won’t have to worry about your tea, she will make it right every time. So feel free to talk with her!” Allie turned back towards Randy. “She’ll have the ability to keep every customer glued to their seats, which means they’ll buy more tea, which means more money! All Serenity will do is find new ways to drive off customers!” Allie had a face of a toddler seeing Santa Clause at the mall for the first time from Dale’s compliment. Serenity had the face of a toddler who was just told Santa isn’t real.

“Hey, there wasn’t anything wrong with the cup I made!” She made no denial of driving off customers, Randy noticed. Dale’s head now swung around towards Serenity.

“And exactly how much tea have you even had before coming to work here…?” Serenity’s face showed she was caught red handed. Randy and Dale knew Serenity was a coffee addict, and Randy wondered just how much Serenity even knew of tea. Dale let go of Allie and made his way over a now heavily reluctant Serenity, who – along with everyone else – knew what was coming next.

“Hey, don’t you dare! You will NOT swing me around the arm like some helpless child!” She got into something of a fighting stance, “I’ll hit you!” Dale bent down, and like he was picking up an empty sack he hoisted Serenity over his shoulder. Randy leaned over to the speechless Kyle.

“Told you the hand dragging was mild. This is normal Dale.”

“He can’t do that!”

“She said she didn’t want to be swung around the arm. She should know what would happen if she said that to Dale.”

Serenity’s eyes werenow bulging in disbelief, too shocked to even fight back anymore. She was carried all the way over to the cash register. Dale put her down, and once she got on the floor, she got her composure back and glared at Dale. She curled her fist into a ball and looked ready to punch him. “How dare you-“ She was cut off by Dale’s massive hand gently engulfing her shoulder.

“I don’t think you know the first thing about tea,” Dale’s voice was surprisingly soft, “But if Randy and I were gone, I want you to be the one in charge. I haven’t forgotten what you taught me about business and hard work, and I’m looking forward to what you have learned in these last nine years.” Serenity looked dumbfounded. She probably didn’t expect something so gentle and caring to come out of his mouth. Randy let out a whistle to signify that he too was impressed. This alerted Dale to his existence, and he whipped around to face him.

“Uh oh,” Randy gulped, still smiling.

“You were in charge of placing people in good positions! Those were the worst ones you could have chosen! Why did you put them there?! THESE are the positions they’d be best at!”

“Guess it must’ve slipped my mind. But you’re right, Dale. I’m glad you knew of so many of their good traits to know what they’d be best suited at.” Randy looked around the room to see all the girls looking bashful and embarrassed in their own cute ways. The trap was a success. And Dale, as usual, seemed to have no clue whatsoever that what he said had any effect on the girls.

Serenity felt like things were going quite smoothly at the store since she got put on cash register duty. Dale had assigned Randy to help teach her some of the managerial tasks, to which she felt a bit insulted by. These were all things she told Dale about over ten years ago. But, she supposed, it was also important for her to learn how Dale specifically wanted things to be done. Though it’s not like even that would be a surprise to her. Dale was still Dale, and what she was being taught was nothing more than a sophisticated form of his crudeness.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

But more importantly than that, she thought, she came here with a mission. Her eyes were on Dale. That was her main target. The store was but a means to an end. But for her to make it to that end, she had…obstacles. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine anyone else being able to capture Dale’s heart, and she had no idea how they had done it.

But nothing was going to stop her from this chance. She never imagined this opportunity would come up again, and she wasn’t about to waste it. She knew what she had to do; remove the two as contenders for Dale’s heart. She had to be delicate – she wasn’t a monster, after all – but she also had to be swift. She wouldn’t get them fired, or even have Dale hate them. Such a cruel person wasn’t worthy of Dale. Serenity was smart; she knew it, and she had no problem showing everyone else how smart she was. She will use all she knows to set up situations so that she looks clearly better than them in comparison. She doesn’t need to pull the girls down, she will springboard off of their shortcomings to bring herself up!

Serenity first eyed Allie. The store just finished closing for the day, and everyone was doing something to help clean up. Allie, however, seemed like the odd girl out. The tea bar was being cleaned by Kyle today, while Allie took Kyle’s usual job of going from place to place helping whoever needed it. The first place she naturally went to was the bar.

“Kyle, do you need any help?” She asked with her usual cute smile that kept irking Serenity.

“No thanks Allie, I’m good here.” Things had died down early today, and Kyle managed to get a head start, so no help was needed at this point. Looking slightly disappointed, Allie made her way over to the back room, where Opal and Randy were mixing and packaging some tea.

“Hey! Can I help you guys?”

“Sorry Allie,” Randy said without looking up from his work, “I’d welcome your help, there’s no more room for another.”

“Oh…” Allie turned away, holding an unbecoming frown. Her sad expression irked Serenity even more than her smile. She moved on over to Dale, who was eyeing the wall of tea, thinking about…something, of which Serenity couldn’t even guess with what. “Hey Dale, can I help-“

“No.” The cold cut off left poor Allie looking heartbroken. This was, however, an opportune chance for Serenity! She still had to count the money. Allie seemed like quite the airhead, she’ll inevitably mess up in counting! Serenity would have to help her, and she will make sure to let everyone – especially Dale – know that Allie needed help and she was kind hearted and capable enough to do it. It was an underhanded thing to do, but Serenity was ready to be the villain if that’s what it takes! All’s fair in love and war, after all.

As Serenity was walking up to Allie, Allie spoke to herself in a soft, sulky voice, “Is there anyone who I can help right now?” A perfect chance, Serenity thought.

“Actually, Allie…” With those words, Allie flipped around, beaming. Her smile outshone the sun, the life in her eyes powerful enough to awaken the dead. Clasping her hands in front of her, she spoke to Serenity in a joy filled voice that could bring about world peace.

“You need my help?!” There almost seemed to be crystals and sparkles in her pupils. Serenity’s defenses melted away. She grabbed Allie’s head and brought it to her chest, hugging her like a mother hugging an injured child, and stroked her hair.

“Oh, I could never do such a thing to you…”

Allie kept smiling as tears built in her eyes, “But I want to help…”Serenity’s plan to be the evil, manipulative vixen has failed.

Three weeks into the opening of the store, and the schedules have finally been rearranged to fit the daily and weekly flow of customers, thanks in large part to Serenity. Opal was not the biggest fan of Serenity’s attitude at times, and especially not all the innuendo gestures she makes at Dale (not that he would even notice, anyway), but she couldn’t deny that Serenity seemed to have a lot of knowledge and experience on keeping things running smoothly. On this day, during the afternoon, was an expected slow time that required less people. Opal was working alone with Dale, with no customers around. He was sitting alone at the bar, enjoying the momentary peace of no customers, drinking a cup of tea and going over some papers. Opal was walking around doing whatever busy work she could. What she really wanted to do, however, was talk to Dale.

She didn’t want to talk about the past – that would be something uncomfortable for both of them – she just wanted to at least talk. Like the old days, Opal thought. When it was just Dale, who not only ignored all the walls she had put up to keep people at bay, but actively tried to climb them or otherwise break them down. She still can’t believe how, despite her best efforts to seem unapproachable and keep everyone at arm’s length, Dale ignored all of that and bullied his way into her world. Always trying to maintain an aura of calmness, grace, poise and elegance, no one really wanted to get close to Opal. They thought of her as a loner, someone who had no time for the common folk. That’s exactly what Opal wanted. She still was not sure if Dale saw right through her facade, or if he just didn’t notice.

What was he up to these last few years? What does he have in store for Dragon Fire, the tea store he told her he would one day open? At the very least, she could ask him about the papers he was looking at. From the distance, they looked like some sort of charts and graphs. Dale hated these kinds of things, so it piqued her curiosity even more. She went over to the other end of the bar, pretending to wipe it down. She took a small step towards Dale. Then another. Slowly but surely, making her way on over, hoping to get a peek at what he was looking at. Dale’s eyes shifted towards her, as she darted away from him. Dale shrugged and got back to reading the papers.

“What was that?!” Opal thought to herself. This was the first time that she was alone with Dale since they reunited, and that left her feeling overly self-conscious. The irony was not lost to her; having been overly self-conscious all her life, it was originally Dale that made her break through all of that. But this was no time to get lost in memories! The first opportunity is lost, but that’s alright. The paper looked to include math; if it had on it things she didn’t understand, she wouldn’t know how to start a conversation around it anyway. She has to try again.

She watches Dale as he takes a sip of his tea. Yes! The tea! That can be her way of starting a conversation. But what is he drinking? If she got close enough to smell it, she’d probably be able to know. Opal walked to the other side of the bar, directly across from Dale, and bent down, pretending to do some more work. She didn’t want Dale to notice, so she slowly, sloooowly began to creep her head up, thinking Dale’s view of her would be blocked by the papers. One small inch. Then another. And another. Eventually, she would be close enough to smell the tea. When she got close enough, nose nearly over the cup, she looked up, and saw Dale looking down on her above the papers with annoyed perplexion. She began to sheepishly make her way back down.

Opal felt like a fool. Why was she scurrying about? She worked with Dale now! And she will never be able to speak to him again if she doesn’t, well, speak to him. They have not had a single word that was not work related up to this point. Thinking back, what an ironic turn of events. But this was not a time to think about the past! It was time to take action, just as Dale likes! Opal walked over to the side of Dale. She stood there firmly, holding a determined look on her face. Dale looked at her, and Opal….did nothing. Words would have been caught in her throat if there were any words to begin with. She didn’t even think of what to say! Dale went back to his cup of tea. Opal panicked internally while keeping her firm poise externally. She kept thinking of what to say, but nothing was coming. Her social anxiety was winning, but this was not the time! What could she say? The weather? No, Dale hates small talk. Tea? No, it’ll be back to work talk again!

Before she could think of something, Dale slammed the papers on the tea bar, glared at her, and screamed “WHAT?!” Opal panicked and eeked out a meager “…Hi.” Dale looked at her, and she looked back at him. A lifetime passed, before Dale went back to his paper and tea. Time for Opal to slither away, defeated on this day. Dale wouldn’t let her go, however.

“Your awkwardness hasn’t gotten any better, I see. You clearly want something, what is it?” Opal turned back to face him.

“No, it must be your imagination.” Dale raised an eyebrow. He kept staring at her. Gazing. His eyes enveloped her, making her freeze in place. Seconds ticked away. Opal could feel the sweat starting to build on her forehead. She knew this technique! He had performed it many times on her! He was perfectly aware of Opal’s dislike of eye contact, and how, when combined with dead silence, it drove her crazy. And he was doing it again, the bastard!

“You want to know what I’m reading, don’t you?”

“I-Yes, that’s it!” It was not actually it. But Opal wasn’t about to let this chance slip by. Dale sighed as he tossed the papers on the countertop, and Opal started to make her way over. Expecting work papers, she at first couldn’t make sense of anything she was seeing on the pages. Then it clicked all at once.

“Randy said he was planning another D&D session, so I’m trying to make a new character. He specifically told me to make one I haven’t made in the past.”

“But…this is a human fighter. You’re always a human fighter.” Randy had discovered tabletop games, and roped Dale into playing it as well. Dale wasn’t a fan of the game, so he used his gentle persuasion to force Opal to join him by using Opal’s deepest, darkest secrets against her.

“No, this one’s different! See?” Dale placed his massive finger on a part of the page. Opal’s eyes went toward the marked spot, and her stomach dropped from the sheer stupidity of what she was looking at.

“…Female.”

“Yes, I’m a female fighter this time. But I can’t quite figure out how I’m supposed to wield a shield two handed and still do a lot of damage. And according to all these pictures I’m fighting, I’m barely wearing any armor at all. Why are women so bad at being fighters?!” Opal remembered that one of the ways Dale tore down her defenses was his harmless idiocy.

Allie was having lots of fun working.